Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,698 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,199 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Applied Materials were worth $2,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AMAT. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 25.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,874,509 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $640,864,000 after buying an additional 2,844,738 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,804,704 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $637,639,000 after buying an additional 435,308 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 7,760,130 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $358,440,000 after buying an additional 996,084 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 34.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management Inc. now owns 6,835,353 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $315,725,000 after buying an additional 1,751,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Materials by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,186,941 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $239,585,000 after buying an additional 400,239 shares in the last quarter. 77.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 18th. Susquehanna Bancshares lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 17th. Finally, Nomura lowered their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.50.

AMAT stock opened at $34.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.53 and a 52 week high of $62.40.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 16th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.42 billion. Applied Materials had a net margin of 19.87% and a return on equity of 58.23%. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 23rd will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 21st. Applied Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.62%.

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